The role of a coach isn’t about providing advice, unless that advice helps people find their own answers. Hunter S. Thompson, at the tender age of 20, seemed to understand this perfectly, as shown in this wise and entertaining letter he wrote to a friend, whom had asked him for advice on life.

"And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal. It is a choice we must all make consciously or unconsciously at one time in our lives. So few people understand this! Think of any decision you've ever made which had a bearing on your future: I may be wrong, but I don't see how it could have been anything but a choice however indirect—between the two things I've mentioned: the floating or the swimming."

Personally, as someone who has both “floated with the tide” and “swam for a goal” at various points, I wish I had seen this letter earlier in my life. Considering the time of year, spring time with college graduations in full bloom, may I suggest you share it with any young people you know starting out in life, or maybe people a few years (or even many years) from life’s starting line, still floating or worse, drifting.